Why Newell Rubbermaid Is a Buy

Newell Rubbermaid is a company that’s long been struggling with a stock that’s lost people a lot of money over the years, yet the consumer goods name managed to report strong quarterly results on Friday, prompting its stock to soar 8 percent in a single day.

To “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer, it seems Newell Rubbermaid has finally gotten its act together. Last year, the company announced a major restructuring effort that would simplify organizational complexity and slash bloated sales, general and administrative expenses. In turn, it consolidated its three main operating groups into just two segments. It also cut its 13 global businesses down to 9, allowing it to layoff roughly 500 workers, he said.

Cramer also praised New ell’s management team, especially CEO Michael Polk, who assumed his position in July 2011. Polk has done a great job of cutting costs, Cramer said, by reducing the company’s exposure to unprofitable categories that either face took much private label competition or are too dependent on commodity inputs. Newell has cleaned up its balance sheet enough to that Cramer thinks it could soon replay its debt and possibly raise its dividend.

Although its stock recently spiked, Cramer still thinks Newell Rubbermaid is a buy. He thinks it’s pretty cheap given it’s currently trading at 11 times forward earnings with a 9 percent long-term growth rate. Furthermore, he thinks the estimates are very conservative here and could even turn out to be too low.